


Bruno is Orange

by TeaTones



Series: The Solangelo high school au nobody asked for. [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Fluff, High School, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Middle School, Mutual Pining, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:34:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27376534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaTones/pseuds/TeaTones
Summary: The day Will knew he was in love with his best friend, the sky opened up in a torrential downpour on their walk back from school.Growing up gay in the early 2000's was an experience.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Nico di Angelo, Annabeth Chase & Will Solace, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo & Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo & Will Solace, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Percy Jackson & Will Solace
Series: The Solangelo high school au nobody asked for. [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2074122
Comments: 14
Kudos: 111





	1. Please be a good man, please say you won't tell.

**Author's Note:**

> This story came to me while listening to the song 'Bruno is Orange' 
> 
> With everything happening today, I needed a thing to help escape from it all for a bit. Writing this out helped me, I hope reading it helps you escape for a bit as well.

The day Will knew he was in love with his best friend, the sky opened up in a torrential downpour on their walk back from school. They ran for cover under the roof of a bus stop only a street away from Will’s home. 

The shorter boy’s wavy black hair hung heavy with rain, framing his rounded face and contrasting with his pale olive skin. His hands firmly held onto the straps of his backpack, and his black hoodie was nearly soaked through from the shoulders. 

The small pout on his face as he glared up at the sky, like his look alone would scare the rain away, made a large smile stretch across Will’s face. To say his best friend looked displeased would be an understatement of the century. 

A small blush dusted his face when the term  _ cute _ flitted through his mind to describe his friend. Sure it was cute, the way the water droplets dripped from the points of his hair and down his face. The way his bottom lip jutted out ever so slightly, and the corners of his mouth just barely passed the line from his normal frown to that of a sad puppy. 

“I thought you liked the rain?” Will elbowed his friend, who quickly shifted his glare from the sky to him. 

But the irritation in Nico’s eyes dissipated almost instantly when he looked at the innocent and friendly smile Will was giving him. His curly golden hair, now dripping wet but still holding its curls and general waviness as if to spite god, and his sky blue eyes reminding him of the weather they had earlier. 

“I do,” Nico huffed, attempting to blow a lock of wet hair from his face before giving up and brushing it aside with his hand instead, “But not when I’m stuck outside in it.”

“I think being in the rain is nice.” Will countered, absentmindedly picking at a loose thread on the cuff of his flannel button up. Looking over to his friend again when he scoffed and stuck his tongue out. 

“Oh you hush.” Will elbowed the shorter boy, who promptly stepped on his foot.

“You hush-“

“Don’t tell me to hush, I said it first-“

“Solace-“

“Di Angelo-“

Their little friendly bickering session was interrupted when a car passed by and promptly splashed a puddle up at the two. The driver of the car honked as they drove off like the car was laughing at their misfortune. 

Will caught a glance at the driver as their car turned the corner, he was an upperclassman at their school, but that’s all he could make out. 

“FUCK IT!” Nico shouted, throwing his hands upward and yelling at the sky, before sprinting out into the rain, “First one to your house gets to be player 1!” 

It took Will all of five seconds to process this, and another two to make a mad dash down the street, “No way!” He chased after the short Italian boy who got an unfair head start, and quickly caught up, “We both know I’m the faster runner! You have no hope!”

“I think you forget I run on pure spite, Solace! That plus my sheer want to get out of the rain has fate on my side!” Nico shouted over his shoulder as he came up on Will’s street. He reached his hand out to grab the street pole and used it to swing around and carry his momentum in the right direction down the road.

Nico stuck his tongue out and he disappeared around the corner.

Will huffed and rolled his eyes. He dashed around the street corner, sneaker getting caught briefly on the curb, but catlike reflexes had him stay on his feet as he continued the chase. 

His house was right there, and he was only 3 feet away from Nico.

He could win this!

But then the shorter boy looked over his shoulder, and the pure joy that surged through Will when he saw the stupid grin on Nicos face had him faulter ever so slightly. 

That was all the time Nico needed to make the distance from the sidewalk and up to his house's front stoop first. He swung open the screen door to the sunroom and tossed his bag to the floor before he finally collapsed inside. He rolled to his back. His laughter sounded like music to Will’s ears as the other boy bounded up the front steps and leaned up against the doorway trying to catch his breath. 

“I win.” Nico gave Will a smug little smile before folding his hands on his stomach and nudging Will’s foot with his own.

“Ok death boy, congratulations.”

Nico raised his arms and clapped his hands, “Come on sunshine, I need a towel!” He called from his place on the floor, making no indication that he would be getting up to get one himself.

Will rolled his eyes, dropping his bag to the floor before toeing off his soggy sneakers. He peeled off his wet socks and tossed them in Nico’s general direction.

“Hey!” He complained as Will ventured inside to get them towels. 

A half an hour later, the two boys toweled off and changed into some dry clothes while they waited for the kettle to whistle so they could make tea. 

Nico wore a Star Wars shirt that was two sizes too big, and a pair of blue capris: courtesy of Will. His clothes were thrown in the drier in the meantime, and in Nico’s words “I’ll settle for Star Wars since it’s the only black shirt you have.”

The rain had slowed down to a slow but steady trickle. The house was unusually quiet, with Will’s mother at work and siblings in after school activities. Nico was setting up the Wii in Will’s bedroom down the hall, while the other took two mugs from a cabinet.

“Nico, what kind of tea?”

The shorter boy poked his head out of Will’s room, “What do you have?”

He took a look through the drawer filled with several boxes of tea, “We got mint, oolong, earl grey, french vanill--”

“French vanilla sounds good!” Nico ducked back into the room.

With the water poured, Will looked for the sugar pot next to the coffee maker, only to find it was empty, “We don’t have sugar!” he called.

“Are you shitting me?” Nico appeared in the kitchen doorway with a throw blanket over his shoulders, “We got nothing?”

Will snorted, “Making yourself at home are we?”

Nico stuck out his tongue, “Can it Solace, I’m cold.”

Will started to peek through the cabinets, maybe there was an additional bag of sugar somewhere. His eyes locked onto a half empty bag of brown sugar held shut with a rubber band.

“We could use that?” Nico half question half answered, eyes peering over the taller boy’s shoulder.

“I mean, I guess we could?”

Nico shrugged, “Worth a shot.”

“I suppose.” Will pulled the bag from the cabinet. 

With the tea all set and cooling, the two brought their mugs into Will’s bedroom. The TV was set and controllers were ready for them to play Super Smash Bros Brawl. They’d left off half way through a level in the story mode. They had a few hours to themselves to play before his mother and siblings came home and they had to do their homework. 

Nico would be staying the night, having the luxury of a weekend to hang out while this parents were away. 

In a way, the Solace’s had all but taken in the short Italian boy. Their home, for nico, was everything his own wasn’t.

It was smaller, bustling with life and character. It was warm, it was friendly and welcoming. It actually felt like a home  _ should _ feel. 

Nico made himself comfortable at the foot of the other boy’s bed, soft blue blanket wrapped around him snuggly and a hot cup of tea held carefully in his hands, softly blowing into the mug in an attempt to cool off the drink. His back was leaning up against the window sill, and his figure was illuminated by the cloudy grey light outside as the rain continued to tap against the window. 

From where Will sat on his bed, settling his own cup on the window sill, he got a good view of the other boy who made himself so comfortable in his home without any effort at all.

The thought of  _ ‘He looks so cute.’ _ went through Will’s head at the sight. He pushed that thought aside again with only a small blush on his face. He was a boy. His best friend, in fact. That kind of though wasn’t right.

But a friend could think he was cute without any implications, right?

Nico ventured a sip of the still very hot tea, and winced. But then his eyes lit up, and with it, another stupid grin that melted Will’s heart, “Dude this is actually really good!” he turned to his friend, and  _ oh _ .

Will wasn’t the most poetic of people, which he felt odd saying as he came from a family full of writers; but if he were, he would compare the sparkle in Nico’s dark brown-almost black eyes to the stars in the sky on a perfect night. His hair was still messy from the rain, which was saying something, as Nico’s hair was always just a little bit messy a lot of the time, and it was sort of frizzy like a dog’s fur when it shook to dry off. His lips were a little pinker from the hot tea, and his smile--oh his  _ smile _ ! 

Even looking all disheveled and messy, Nico had no right looking as good as he did; and for the third time that day, the thought of  _ ‘He looks so cute.’ _ shot through his mind.

And it was true. Try as he might, it was absolutely, irrefutably true. 

And maybe-- 

Maybe… The fluttering feeling in his chest he would get when he looked at his best friend, and the longing he felt when they couldn't hang out, and the small pang of jealousy he felt when someone hit on Nico, were all signs for something.

And maybe?

Maybe William Andrew Solace might possibly be a little bit,  _ tiny bit _ gay for his best friend.

“Earth to Will?” Nico snapped his fingers in front of his face.

Will came to his senses and focused on what was being said to him, “Sorry I spaced out for a moment.”

Nico lifted his controller, having put his tea on the window sill at some point while he was lost in thought, “We gonna play?” the shorter boy raised an eyebrow at his friend.

“Oh, yeah.”

“I’m player 1!”

“Oh hush!”

The two boys teased each other for the following 20 minutes while they started on the level they left off on last. And though Will felt like this new revelation should have made him feel awkward and uncomfortable around his friend, it didn’t. 

Being around him always felt so comfortable and natural, and now having an idea of why that was gave him a stronger sense of that comfort.

And if possibly Nico would feel the same--On the slim chance that he might be able to feel the same? Maybe things would be ok.

But Will didn’t try and entertain the idea. 

Being friends was still a pretty great place to be. 

Just friends.


	2. I Can’t Control Thoughts of Things I Need

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written quicker than I thought, so fingers crossed I can keep up a more consistent updating schedule!
> 
> ALSO minor blood warning!

The day Nico discovered he was in love with his best friend, the sun was shining at full force like an unforgiving god showering your local goth youth with some much needed vitamin D. 

Nico hated it.

Not nearly as much as he cared to admit, however. When accompanied by 1 (one) Will Solace, a boy who thrives in the sun as much as Nico thrives in cloudy weather, practically glowing in the bright sunlight. It was amusing to think of their friendship, being nearly polar opposites in aesthetic and personality. But for some reason, they just worked. 

Nico had his suspicions for a while now that he was probably gay. Which terrified him. 

The first indicator being his general lack of interest in girls, and the annoyance he feels when one hits on him. Not that it happens often, most people being generally uncomfortable around him. 

As Percy would call it, he had this “aura of death” that just put everyone on edge. Personally, Nico was fine with this. He wasn’t a people person. 

His second indication that he might be gay, would be his former crush he had on Percy. Maybe that was the biggest indicator, but he was still scared to admit to it.

Even if Annabeth and Percy knew it.

Despite the warm, bordering on hot weather, Nico still wore all black. A black long sleeve shirt with a skull design on the front, sleeves cuffed up to his elbow, a black pair of cargo shorts, red converse and black fingerless gloves with small studded spikes around the wrist. He sat hunched forward with his elbows resting on his thighs and hands holding his head up.

Will was wearing a plain burnt orange shirt with a short sleeved olive green button up over it, which was unbuttoned, and blue cargo pants. He took his sandals off a few minutes ago, and leaned backwards with his arms supporting him as he stretched out to bask in the sun like a cat.

The two of them were currently sitting on a blanket on the sidelines of a soccer field waiting for a game Percy was playing to begin. 

It was just about to start, with the players having just started warm ups. With that, Annabeth finally made her way back to the blanket.

“Oh don’t you two look cute.” Annabeth commented as she sat between the two.

“ _Oh don’t you too look cute-_ can it Annabeth.” Nico scoffed. 

She gave Nico a knowing look, to which he promptly flipped her off.

If Will was flustered or blushing by her comment, it was hard to tell behind his tanned, freckled skin and calm disposition, “Anyways,” Will turned to Annabeth, “How are the two of you doing?”

Briefly, she looked at Nico through the corner of her eye, who smirked and rolled his eyes, “Things are good. You know Percy, the lovable seaweed brain that he is.” She smiled.

“So starting high school hasn't changed him then?” Will joked.

“Yup, still lacking in the braincell department.” Nico joined.

Annabeth thwapped Nico off the back of the head, “Hey! I’m the only one who gets to make fun of my boyfriend’s intelligence.” 

“Or lack-there-of—“ another smack on the back of the head.

They chatted for a little longer till the game finally started.

Really, Nico was only here for silent support for both Annabeth and Percy. Will tagged along for a similar reason, plus actually enjoying watching sports. 

Between the whoops and cheers from his friends, Nico felt himself dozing off. 

That was until something hard suddenly collided with the Italian boy's face, sending him falling backwards and looking up at the sky in a daze. 

He vaguely registered a dull throbbing coming from his nose, and something trickling down the side of his face. There was a ringing in his ears briefly, and he heard voices around him. Will’s face came into view. As his friend carefully pressed something under his nose, and with a sharp pain from it, suddenly everything came into focus.

Will and Annabeth helped him sit back up, “Shit!” Nico hissed as he took whatever it was Will had pressed to his nose to stop the bleeding and held it in place. 

“What the fuck happened?” 

“You just got hit in the head with a soccer ball,” Will informed him while carefully examining Nico’s face, “I’m going to ask you a few questions, I need you to answer them as well as you can.”

Nico nodded, so far pretty proud of him for not getting teary eyed or crying.

“What is your name?”

“Nico Di Angelo.”

“What is my name?”

“Will Solace.”

“What day of the week is it?”

“Will I barely know that on a good day, it’s summer who the fuck keeps track of—“

“Ok he’s fine.” Will interrupted, turning to Annabeth as he reached for an ice pack, cleaning pads and some paper towels she just retrieved from the team’s medical bag.

“Holy shit is he ok?” Percy finally jogged up to the trio, “I didn’t mean to kick it in this direction-“

If looks could kill, Percy would be dead with the glare Nico pinned him with. As he spoke, his voice got louder and his Italian accent surfaced, “If you step any closer, Percy, I swear I’ll throw something—“

“Nico I need you to look at me so I can clean your face and check on your nose.” Will interrupted Nico’s raising voice and turned his face towards him. 

Nico fixes his best friend with possibly the most dramatic scowl in the history of Nico Di Angelo. Which was rather impressive, given the boy’s track record. 

Will pulled the cloth from Nico’s face, which he only now realized was Will’s button up, and started carefully wiping the trail of blood from the side of his face and up to the now very tender skin around his nose with a cleaning pad. The taller boy turned Nico’s head side to side, assessing the damage, and clicked his tongue.

“Will, sorry about your-“ Nico began before getting interrupted by his best friend again.

“Don’t worry about it,” Will dismisses with a wave of his hand, pressing the paper towel under his nose and tilting his head forward, “Your nose is definitely going to bruise. I’m no medical professional either, but from the swelling, I think it might be broken.” As if to test his theory, Will lightly pressed his fingers to either side of his nose, getting a wince in response. He passed Nico the ice pack to hold up to his nose.

Will’s attention was taken from Nico when Annabeth tapped his shoulder, “Should I call Sally?”

“Probably.” Will bit his lip as he turned back to Nico with concern. Annabeth pushes that duty off on Percy while she stood up and jogged over to the coach to let her know Nico was ok. 

And maybe it was the sudden and unexpected blow to the head, or maybe it was the way the sun was illuminating the golden curls on Will’s hair, or reflected in his stunning sky blue eyes, but Nico was feeling a little big gay. 

Like, looking into his best friends eyes was sending butterflies loose in his stomach, kinda gay. 

Like thinking _‘I could kiss you’_ kind of gay.

Will gave him a concerned look, “Nico are you ok?” He brushed the shorter boy's hair off his forehead and pressed the back of his hand to it, “Your face is getting red, Percy, when is your mom getting here?” Will turned his head to call their friend.

Said friend just hung up his phone, “She’s on her way now.” He jogged back over, keeping a careful distance between him and Nico. He crouched down next to Will to get a better look at Nico’s face and winced.

Nico’s trance was broken as he immediately glared daggers at his other friend.

“She should be here in a few minutes.” 

Annabeth jogged back over, nudging her way between Will and Percy, the latter of which fell sideways, “Percy, the coach wants to know if you’re staying or coming with us.”

“And you felt the need to knock me over—“

“Better than getting a soccer ball to the face.” Nico and Annabeth interrupted him at the same time.

“Ok fair,” Percy pushes himself back upright, “I’m gonna go talk to Coach Stella and I’ll be back. I’m coming with, it’s the lease I can do for—“

He shut up quickly and dodged the water bottle Nico threw at him, “Ok! I’ll be right back.” Percy got to his feet and jogged back to his team.

One car ride to the emergency room later, the five of them were seated in the doctor's office. Since Sally was on Nico’s emergency contact list, her and the other three were permitted to go in with Nico while they waited for the doctor to come in. His father being a busy lawyer, and step mother being out of town often, and his biological mother living all the way in Italy, they felt it a good idea to add her on when she offered. 

Sally was a very kind woman, and basically a pseudo mom to their whole friend group. 

The bleeding had stopped, but Will still insisted Nico hold onto a paper towel in case it started up again.

“So how about after this, we get some ice cream?” Sally broke the silence, “There’s a nice place not too far from here, my treat.”

“Well,” Nico sighed, “Can’t really argue with that.”

“Ice cream sounds great, thank you.” Will thanked. 

In the corner of the room, Annabeth and Percy sat, texting back and forth in a private conversation, no doubt consisting of Annabeth telling Percy he was an idiot, and Percy agreeing.

There was a knock at the door before the doctor came in, “Hello,” she pushed a small cart in the room with her that held her laptop so she could take down notes, “My name is Dr. Martinez.” She turned to Nico and held out a hand, “Domenico Di Angelo?”

He absentmindedly shook her hand and nodded, eyes going wide with hearing his full name. 

Behind her Percy quietly questioned, “Wait, Domenico?” And Annabeth elbowed him.

Nico was glaring daggers at him, once more reminding him of why they were here in the first place.

“So from your paperwork, I hear you may have a broken nose?” She finished what she was typing and looked up to the younger boy seated on the exam table. 

Nico hummed in acknowledgement.

“He was sitting on the sidelines of a soccer game and got hit in the face by the soccer ball.” Sally informed her, “The bleeding stopped, but the swelling hasn’t gone down.”

The doctor nodded, “I see.” She quickly washed her hands in the sink before drying them off and putting on a pair of rubber gloves, “If it is broken, it doesn’t appear to be too severe. I wouldn’t doubt it though. I’m going to run through a few tests here and see.” 

Much like the way Will had, she gently pressed her fingers from his cheekbones up to the sides of his nose. Nico let in a sharp intake of breath when her fingers touched a certain point, and the doctor hummed. She tilted his head backwards and unhooked the otoscope from the wall to get a better look inside his nostrils and hummed again, before hanging it back up. 

She ran a few more tests before finally tossing her gloves into a bin at the foot of the table and returned to her laptop to type something in.

After a moment, Dr. Martinez finally spoke, “Ok so it does look like a mild fracture on the bridge of his nose.” Everyone in the room other than the doctor and Sally turned to fix Percy with a _look_.

The doctor turned her attention to Sally, “It’s nothing that’ll need a splint, but the bruising may look worse before it gets better. The swelling will go down, and I suggest icing it when you can. I can prescribe something for the pain, but regular over the counter medication will work just as well.

“There also seems to be no sign of a concussion, but I’d keep a close eye for the next few hours just to be on the safe side. Do you have any questions for me before I send you on your way?” 

“I think that’s good, thank you so much for your time.” Sally thanked her.

After settling the small copay, and a few short calls to Nico’s father and stepmother, the five left the ER right as the sun was starting to set.

“Nico, sweetheart, let's get you to the car quickly. I have a bottle of Tylenol in my purse and some water bottles in the back.”

As they filed into the car, Percy sat next to Nico. 

Bold move given the circumstances.

“So do you hate me?” He asked awkwardly.

“I don’t know, Percy, did you break my nose with a soccer ball?”

“It was an accident.“ he sounded defeated.

After a moment, Nico responded, “I don’t hate you,” Percy beamed, “BUT!” he held up one finger, “If you tell _anyone_ my full name is Domenico I will end you without hesitation.” He fixed him with a pointed glare.

The older boy nodded furiously, “Of course, wouldn’t dream of it!”

“Ok!” Sally clapped her hands from the front, “Let’s get some ice cream!”

From the passenger side, Annabeth smiled, looking back at her dumb boyfriend And smiling before sitting correctly in her seat and buckling in. 

Nico looked around Percy as casually as he could to see Will. The thoughts from earlier coming back to mind.

_I could kiss you_

There had been more truth to that than Nico cared to admit. And when Will turned and smiled at Nico, the shorter boy would be absolutely lying if he said his heart didn’t flutter. 

_I could kiss you_

Shit there was a _lot_ more truth there than he was willing to accept.

Will was his _straight_ best friend. Despite how he feels, the thought of damaging that friendship made him frustrated with himself. 

He shouldn’t be feeling this way for his male friend. He was a boy—they were both boys. 

A flash of something his mother once told him had Nico shrinking back in his seat:

 _“God didn’t make both_ man _and_ women _for homosexuality to be ok. It’s not right. It’s not natural.”_

He sighed and looked out the window. This could only end horribly. 

These feelings?

They’ll go exactly no where, he decided.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for chapter 3, which will definitely be longer than the first two! I promise!
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed it, please feel free to leave a comment, I’d love to hear what you think?!


	3. My mother says that I will surely go to hell.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm here for supportive stepmother Persephone and you all can fight me on that!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy early Christmas guys!!!

[Music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXXOLxH6cpU) filled the room as Nico began to sort through his things. 

Not that his bedroom was messy, but it wasn’t often that he had friends over and wanted to occupy himself while he waited. It’s been a long running tradition for their friend group to do movie nights every Friday; and though Nico made it very clear he didn’t want people over his place, they’d finally needled him down. They’d be staying the night as well, since it was Will’s birthday tomorrow, and they wanted to spend some time with him before he was whisked away to his home where his mother had planned a few family festivities. 

Nico was invited to join, of course. They all loved him in the Solace residence, and Will was his best friend.

The mansion was way too big for just three people, with long labyrinth-like hallways weaving throughout the home making it more confusing to navigate for anyone who hadn’t lived here for at least over a year. The atmosphere often felt hollow to Nico. Hollow in a way that made him feel so insignificant and small, like he was a little bug taking up residence in someone else's kitchen pantry. It didn’t feel like a home, not like Will’s home did. It felt more like a high end hotel that his father owned and only they lived in.

And as much as Nico would love to say that was the only excuse for why he never let anyone over (except for Will on a few occasions). The thing was, as soon as people find out he comes from money, they tend to change. 

He didn’t want to be liked because he was rich. He didn’t want friends who were only after his friendship with the expectation of receiving expensive gifts and banking in on his fathers wealth. He wanted friends who wanted to be around him for who he is, not for what he has.

Things were so much different with Will though. He was his first ever close friend in America. He’s always made it apparent that he liked being around Nico for his snarky personality and dark humor. That he genuinely enjoyed his company when no one else at the time did. Will was his best friend, they’d known each other since he moved here from Italy with his father when he was 8. He could always rely on him.

And…

If he had a thing for said best friend, he had difficulty with accepting that. Pluss, he was almost positive it was unreciprocated. He didnt know if Will was gay, straight, or anything in between. Even if he was attracted to boys, there couldn’t possibly be a chance he would like someone like Nico in that way. 

So even though his heart ached for something more, he was still happy just being friends. They’d been friends for six years, and the thought of losing him entirely over some unfortunately placed feelings hurt so much more than the longing he felt. 

A small smile curled on his lips. Nobody else in his group had ever seen Nico’s home, and he’d by lying if he said he couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they pulled into his neighborhood; let alone his driveway. 

As he cleaned, Nico made it a point to hide his stuffed animals in the far corner of his walk-in closet. Maybe the black peep could stay on his bed, and perhaps the stuffed chicken Will got him for his birthday a few years back. 

His bedroom itself had everything aside from a kitchen and laundry hookup to be considered a luxury studio apartment. Directly across from the entrance was a large window with a built in bench that had a black cushion. The long black-out curtains that hung from the curtain rod above it were currently wrapped around ornate silver and black curtain hooks. Draping over them was a long set of rainbow skull string lights his stepmother got for him. 

There were a few things about himself he was terrified of talking about with his family, but sometimes Persephone was way too keen on picking things up for his own good. She hasn't said anything to Nico, but they both have a mutual understanding that her step son was gay, and that she wouldn’t say a lick of it to anyone and quietly show her support through little gestures like that.

To the direct right of the window was the doorway to the closet. To the left was a work desk that had his laptop which was the source of music, some sketchbooks were stacked on a shelf above, along with a display of copic markers he never used. Another gift from Persephone when she learned he liked to draw. Personally he didn’t use them often, never really being that great with anything other than a pencil and paper, but the gesture was nice and he appreciated it.

There were a few feet between that and the black trunk at the foot of his queen sized bed, which was pushed into the far corner of his room. Another large window bordered the side of it, where he usually piled his hoard of cups and mugs of old tea; all of which were now gone. The comforter was all black, with, as Will puts it, an ungodly amount of pillows. 

There were a few throw blankets folded and stacked on the trunk, all with different patterns and a plethora of colors. His personal favorite was a Bob Ross one Will got him for his birthday last year, which was currently draped over his shoulders as he marched through his bedroom. 

The white walls of his bedroom were covered in a moderate amount of band and video game posters mixed with a few random gothic wall clocks for the aesthetic. On the wall above the head of his bed was a large cork board that had an assortment of photos with him and his family. Some with his whole friend group as well, and some of just him and Will when they were younger. There were a few postcards from his mother, and some old concert tickets mixed in there as well. 

The door to the bathroom was right next to the bed, and then a few feet after that was a fully stocked mini fridge in the corner. Between that and the bedroom entrance was a TV stand with a shelving unit that held his gaming systems underneath, along with a cabinet to the left with a glass front that held shelves of different video games and figurines. The bottom shelf had all his things from when he obsessed over the card game Myth-O-Magic; all of his decks, figurines, guid books and boards. 

On the coffee table in front of it, Nico had a few movie picks. One perk to them coming here was Nico got to choose the movie and no one could complain. That was the agreement. And if Will subtly swayed his decision then he wouldn’t say a thing about it. 

One look at the clock told Nico they would be coming over shortly. 

They being Will, Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper and Leo.

Taking one last look through, he was satisfied with how everything had come out. Things were just the right amount of messy, anything embarrassing was thrown way back into his closet, and a few air mattresses were pulled out from under his bed next to an air pump.

From his desk, his phone chimed. When Nico checked the screen, it showed a few texts from Percy and Annabeth:

**Lord Of The Bathroom:**

holy shit dude

I fucking knew it

_ (4:13pm) _

**Nico:**

Percy stfu

_ (4:13pm) _

**Annabeth:**

Nice place, we’re here.

_ (4:12pm) _

**Nico:**

On my way down

_ (4:13pm) _

Nico began to sprint down the halls and to the staircase, coming to a sliding halt with his socks as he rounded a corner. He sat on the railing and slid down the stairs and into the main foyer. Persephone and his father were still away at work, his father won't be back till much later, but his step mother was due home around 5:30.

As he came to a stop at the foot of the stairs, he could see Percy peeking in through one of the large windows that bordered the main door. As he caught sight of Nico, he started to wave. The younger boy rolled his eyes as he made his way to the door.

The first thing that was said when the door was opened came from Percy, “Dude this is crazy! You really live here?” He questioned as he set foot into the mansion and looked around the place like it was some crazy museum rather than a home.

Annabeth followed suit, looking equally intrigued. Her focus was more centered on appreciating the architecture on the place and whistled, which eccode through the front lobby and into the surrounding hallways. 

They both had a bag with their things, along with a present, presumably for Will’s birthday. Percy had a small blue gift bag with no tissue paper to spice it up, while Annabeth had a small box, carefully wrapped in blue and yellow star patterned wrapping paper with a little gold bow and card taped to the top.

“Take off your shoes or Seph will kill me.” Nico shut the door behind them and checked the time while Annabeth toed off her sneakers and Percy kicked off his sandals.

“Jason said he’s gonna be a little late, but other than that i think the others should be arriving soon.” Annabeth looked up from her phone, eyes zeroing in on her boyfriend who was now wandering around the room to take in all the plants cluttered in the windows scattered and all around the room, “Ey seaweed brain, what are you doing?” she said just in time to stop him from picking through the large spider plant with at least 50+ baby sprouts hanging heavy from it’s stems.

“I wasn’t gonna do anything!” he called back in defence, “I’ve just never seen one with  _ this many _ sprouts on it.”

“Get back over here.” 

“Ok.”

Nico looked back to the front door, as if expecting to see that more of his friends had arrived here yet. When he saw nobody, he sighed, “While we wait for the others to arrive, we can wait in the kitchen and collect snacks or something. My room is a bit of a trek and I’d rather not sprint laps around my house if I can avoid it.” He started to lead the way around the main staircase to the archway that led to the kitchen.

His two friends followed, Percy still looking around wide eyed at the home’s interior while Annabeth tried to contain her inner fangirl when it came to impressive architecture.

She’d always been obsessed with monuments, and really any form of innovative architectural design since she was a kid. Her mother worked in that field, and growing up she would sneak into her study to go through her books. Honestly Nico wouldn’t be surprised if she grew up to become a famous architect some day. She was one of the smartest people he knew.

Which makes her relationship with Percy so funny, given that for the most part he was about as dense as mercury at times. He was a lovable idiot though, and Nico would be a hypocrite if he said that he wasn’t incredibly charming. He was Nico’s first crush, afterall. 

He was also eternally grateful to these two for keeping his sexual orientation a secret. This was something he didn’t even talk about with Will, and the only reason they even knew was because of the unfortunate crush which led to an equally unfortunate series of events, that for a time put a bit of a strain on his friendship with him.

He was so glad things worked out well in the end.

As the short hallway opened up into the kitchen, Annabeth’s eyes lit up, “I’m seeing a really cool roman inspired theme going on here. Was that intentional? Or did you guys just buy the place already made?”

“My dad had it built before we moved here from Italy. He’d always had a preference for roman style architecture, so he tried to stick with that as the main theme.” Nico moved to start digging through one of the cabinets next to the fridge, “Of course, he had to go and add some more of a gothic style here and there. And Sephs sunroom and garden area follows more of a rococo style.”

Annabeth seemed impressed, “I didn’t know you were into architecture?”

Nico Shrugged, “I’m not, but I did learn about some basics from an art history book Seph got me for christmas a few years ago.”

While they conversed, Percy continued to snoop around the house. He came across a large dog food bowl and looked up, “Nico, I didn’t know you had a dog?”

Nico began piling up bags of chips, along with a few large bowls to dump them in when they got to his room. He looked up at his friend, “Yeah, he’s more my dad’s dog than mine though. You brought some benadryl, right?”

“Yeah, it’s in my bag.” As if to emphasise it, he adjusted the strap of his messenger bag so it sat a little higher on his shoulder, “You said you had cats so I figured it would be a good idea.”

“I told him to bring it.” Annabeth added before putting her bag down next to the kitchen island and taking a seat across from where Nico was.

Nico smiled, He loved his cats like they were his children. Which they absolutely were, and anyone who tried to argue otherwise could have a face off with Cerburus. Not that their dog was deadly or aggressive, but when an oversized pitbull comes running up to you at full speed because it’s excited to see you, people tend to run away screaming.

As if he knew he was being talked about, Cerberus came trotting into the kitchen from where he was no doubt napping on his bed in the living room with his favorite teddy bear in his mouth. 

Then suddenly excited to see new visitors, he began to wiggle about, wagging his tail rapidly as he ran up to Percy, knocked him on his ass and started licking his face. Had Percy not been use to large scary looking dogs that were really just big babies, he would probably be scared shitless. But as it were, back home he had a bullmastiff who was honestly just a large, bumbling sweetheart. 

Next time Nico visited, he should bring Mrs O’Leary a toy. He wasn’t much of a dog person himself, but he couldn’t deny that some dogs were just too sweet and cute to say no to.

The doorbell rang, causing Nico to jump where he stood, and Cerburus ears to perk up as his head shot in the direction of the foyer, “Percy, do you mind holding his collar while I get that?” 

As if he already knew what to do, he had a steady hold on the dog while Nico left the kitchen to answer the door. As he made his way down the hall, he heard the doorbell go off a second time.

Then a third.

Then a fourth--fifth--sixth--

Nico swung the door open to glare at his friend, “Yeah Leo, you mind  _ not _ doing that?”

Almost as soon as the door was opened, Leo darted in to look around, almost in a similar manner as Percy had, “Wow Nico, this is crazy! You actually live here? This place is huge!”

Before he could walk any further into the house, Nico caught him by the back of his shirt, “Take your shoes off before you go any further!"

“Oh yeah, right.” he crouched down to untie his boots before pulling them off then hopping back up to explore.

“We’re in the kitchen right now waiting for the others to get here. So far it’s just Annabeth and Percy.” Nico began to lead the way to the kitchen with a curious Leo in tow, “We’re waiting for the others to get here before we go up to my room, I don’t wanna be running circles around my house letting people in.” 

“Hey Leo!” Percy called from his spot on the floor holding Cerberus back, who was now wiggling all over the place eager to greet a new friend.

Immediately Leo dropped his things on the ground and dropped to his knees with his arms outstretched, “Percy let him go, my body is ready!” 

And of course when Cerberus came running over to jump up and lick his face, demanding pets, Leo wasn’t fazed in the slightest. But Nico supposed, when you have a giant pet Tegu that runs up to greet you on a daily basis, big dogs might not scare you that much. 

Festus was relatively friendly, and in a way reminded Nico of a dog, but facing a five foot long fifteen pound lizard can be frightening at best. 

Once Cerberus was done greeting his new best friend, he trotted over to Annabeth to demand pets from her as well; and from where she was seated, she happily reached down to give him a good scratch behind the ear.

“It’s 4:36 right now, and Jason said he’d get here around 6. So really we’re just waiting on Piper and Will now.” Annabeth said.

Nico’s phone chimed from in his pocket. Looking at it he saw a text from Will.

**Sunshine**

Hey! Just letting you know I’m on my way now, my mom had to pick Kayla up from archery practice. Should be there in about 10 minutes! 

୧( ˵ ° ~ ° ˵ )୨

_ (4:36pm) _

**Nico**

Sounds good! We’re all just chilling in the kitchen right now

_ (4:36pm) _

So far it’s just Annabeth Percy and Leo

_ (4:37pm) _

**Sunshine**

Tell them I said hi

ー( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

_ (4:39pm) _

**Nico**

Oh my gods Will

_ (4:39pm) _

**Sunshine**

( •́ .̫ •̀ )

_ (4:41pm) _

**Nico**

Showing you that [website](http://japaneseemoticons.me/excited-emoticons/) really was a mistake

_ (4:41pm) _

**Sunshine**

Nico you wound me (ᵕ̣̣̣̣̣̣﹏ᵕ̣̣̣̣̣̣) 

_ (4:42pm) _

Nico didn’t realize he was smiling like an idiot while he texted Will. Annabeth looked from him to Percy with a knowing little smirk, but Percy didn’t seem to pick up on it so she rolled her eyes. Leo was too busy trying to get back the dog’s attention to notice anything.

Not to mention, even if Leo did pick up on something, he didn’t even know about Nico’s secret so it shouldn’t be a problem.

“So how is the birthday boy?” she asked.

It took Nico a moment to register she was talking to him, but when he did he tore his eyes away from his phone, “What?”

“I said how’s the birthday boy?” 

“Oh,” he paused for a second, “he’s good, he’s on his way now.” he pocketed his phone with a slight tint to his cheeks.

Nico knew she knew. How could Annabeth  _ not _ know. She was Annabeth for christ sake, hardly anything went under her nose. So when she gave him a small smile and turned her attention back to her phone, Nico thanked the gods she wouldn’t say a thing.

His phone chimed again, Nico now turning his phone to vibrate before checking it again.

**Sunshine**

Almost there! (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))

_ (4:46pm) _

He smiled again, but jumped once more as the doorbell rang.

Was it Will? Without saying anything, Nico quickly trotted out the kitchen and to the door in excitement. 

Leo held on to Cerberus while Nico went to let whoever it was in. From his spot on the floor, he looked up to Annabeth, “[So](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNlyF43Te6U) when do you think they’ll get together?”

Annabeth fumbled with her phone, and Percy gave Leo a cautious look, “Uh, what do you mean?” 

Percy’s heart sank, he knew how terrified Nico was about his sexuality getting out there; and Annabeth was equally as nervous even though she didn't quite show it. 

“Nico and Will.” He stated it like it was obvious. Which, to be fair, it kind of was to anyone who knew the boys were gay. But Leo was not one of the few people who did.

Or at least he  _ wasn’t _ .

“Nico and Will?” Annabeth asked, brows furrowing as she looked back to the hallway said boy left down.

Leo gave the two a look that clearly said  _ ‘you two think i’m dumb, but i’m not’ _

“Yeah. Nico and Will.”

Percy and Annabeth shared bemused expressions before looking back to Leo, “Leo, listen. You can’t tell--” Nico and Piper walked into the kitchen, the younger boy still looking over his shoulder to the front door, still expecting to see Will any second now.

Annabeth gave Leo a  _ ‘Don’t you fucking dare’ _ look, to which he made the motion of zipping his lips. 

Leo could be called many things. Impulsive and hyperactive stood at the forefront. He was constantly getting into things he probably shouldn't, and could be known to have no filter. Annabeth had once seen him lick playdough for no reason other than to see what it tasted like in spite of the warning label, and that was just last week. So with every fiber of her being, she hoped like hell Leo kept his mouth shut about this.

Nico felt his phone vibrate again and perked up. He didn’t even take the time to check it before trotting back over to the door.

Piper gave a soft smile as she watched his retreating form, “He has no chill, does he?”

The three of them all looked at Piper with wide eyes. She turned to look at them, “Oh don’t give me that look. I’m good at picking up on this kind of thing.” 

“So wait..” Percy trailed off as they heard Nico and Will laughing in the foyer, “We can’t--”

“We won’t say a thing.” Annabeth interrupted, “The last thing we need is for Nico to push us all away. This is his fight, and if he asks for help, that’s when we do something. Got it?” she gave the others a stern look.

“Of course.” Piper was the first to say anything, “Something like this is delicate, especially in Nico’s case.”

“But being g--” 

“We say nothing!” Annabeth glared at Leo, “It might not seem like a big deal to you, but it’s a big deal for him. We leave it at that.”

Leo and Annabeth had a stare off, and eventually Leo sighed, “Ok.”

The two boys finally made their way into the kitchen, “Alright guys, ready to head up?” Nico began, but froze up when he caught how tence things were, “Is ah… Are we alright?”

Percy shot Nico a thousand watt smile, “Leo farted and won't own up to it.”

“HEY!” Leo shot up from his spot on the floor ready to fight Percy, letting go of Cerberus in the process. The dog ran up to Will and jumped up to get pats, happy to see one of his bestest good friends.

“Ok guys, no fighting please.” Piper intervened, reaching an arm out to stop Leo from charging.

Nico still looked skeptical, but looked up to Will who only shrugged.

“Well, let’s head on upstairs then. Seph will be home some time soon to order dinner, and we have a good chunk of time before Jason gets here.” 

They all collected their things and followed Nico through his labyrinth of a home and to his bedroom.

...

“Dude this is fucking crazy!” Leo called out while he began to rummage through the cabinet directly next to Nico’s TV, “I can’t believe you have your own TV in your room! Oh—!” He pulled out Nico’s copy of Super Smash Brothers Brawl, “Can we play this?!”

From the spot on the couch Nico made himself comfortable in, he shrugged, “I guess we could while we wait for Jason.” He stood up to start setting up the system and took the controllers out of their drawer, zeroing in on his favorite one, a gold colored remote with the triforce on it “You guys can pick whichever you want, I’m player one.”

Leo nabbed the Waluigi controller, Annabeth grabbed an all blue one, and Will took the Yoshi one. Percy opted out for the time being, content in just watching his girlfriend wipe the floor with the other three. Piper and Leo passed the controller back and forth every other round.

After a solid amount of time, they heard a small knock on Nico’s bedroom door before it opened, revealing Jason’s arrival, “Hey guys, sorry I’m late!” he stepped into the room. 

From her spot on the floor, Piper perked up and waved to her best friend, “Took you long enough.” Jason responded with an eye roll while he stepped into the room.

Behind him, Persephone poked her head in, “Hey boys,” she began before seeing Annabeth and Piper and correcting herself, “And girls! Just letting you know dinner will be here soon. I ordered from Georgio’s.” she directed her gaze to her step son, “I’ll send you a text when it gets here.” 

From his spot on the floor Nico smiled, “Thanks Seph.”

“Sure thing!” she nodded before excusing herself, shutting the door quietly before she made her way back down the hall.

“I can’t believe you live here dude,” Jason swung his bag from his shoulder and laid it out next to the rest of their stuff, “Why haven't we done movie nights here before, this is crazy.” He looked all over the large bedroom like it was the Louvre. 

“Well it’s nice to step away from all this and pretend I’m a normal kid.” Nico shrugged, which wasn’t a complete lie. He just didn’t feel like wearing his heart on his sleeve and give them the sob story of having fake friends and money changing people etc.

“When you said your father was a lawyer, I didn’t think it would mean you lived in a literal mansion dude.” Jason took a seat between Nico and Percy on the floor, Annabeth, Leo and Will having already crammed themselves on the couch.

“Well it’s not so much that he’s a lawyer, and more that he owns Adoneus Law Firm entirely.”

“Jesus christ.”

“Well, setting that aside, I think it’s time to switch topics!” Will clapped his hands, ever knowing of how uncomfortable Nico get’s about this particular subject.

Nico perks up, “Yeah.” he gestures to the movies layed out on the coffee table, “I’ve picked out a few good ones. It’s my house so I get to choose the selection.”

Laid out on the table, Nico had the following: When a Stranger Calls, 9, Sinister, The Ring, The Exorcist.

“Do they all have to be horror films?” Percy questioned from over Nico’s shoulder.

“Of course. Wouldn’t be the full Di Angelo household experience without it.” Nico said in a matter of fact tone and with a faux innocent smile, “You signed up for this when you finally got me to agree to this.”

“The movie 9 looks pretty cool.” Jason said, picking up the case and turning it around to read the back.

“It looks like the least scary of the five.” Leo continued, “And I’ve always wanted to see it.” Because of course he did.

Percy conceded, “Are we in agreement then?” they all looked up to Will, who was the birthday boy afterall.

Will shared a knowing look with Nico, “Of course. It’s one of my favorites.”

And as innocent and cool as the cover made it seem, the others weren't quite expecting what was to come. Who would suspect the animated movie to be some sort of psychological horror film afterall. 

...

Sometime between when they paused the film to get food and get back to Nico’s room, the shorter boy managed to squeeze himself between Leo and Will on the couch, with Annabeth on the other end with her legs crossed and resting across the other three’s laps. Percy and Jason were leaning up against each other on the floor at the side of the couch Annabeth sat, while Piper was perched on the arm of the couch behind her with Annabeth’s head resting on her side. 

It was an odd form of domesticity that could only be found in a group of friends who’d been close for years and grew up together. It was comfortable and natural to them.

Everything that evening was going fine, up until a knock at Nico’s door got everyone’s attention.

“Nico dear, may I come in?” Persephone’s usually sweet voice sounded a little nervous.

Nico looked to Will in confusion, before looking at the rest of his friends around the room, then to the door before responding, “Ah yeah, sure.”

Persephone opened the door just enough to poke her head in, “I’m so sorry to interrupt your movie night, but your mother is on the phone.”

Nico’s mother was a touchy subject for him, just as much if not more so than his home life, and if anyone of his friends knew this the most it would be Will Solace. So when his stepmother knocked on his bedroom door towards the end of 9 to tell him his mother was on the phone, the blond’s protective instincts reared up.

Nico looked genuinely surprised, shocked even, from the spot he’d made himself comfortable in curled up at his side.

“Wait-like right now?” He shifted nervously in his seat.

Persephone nodded and looked apologetically to Nico’s group of friends before back at Nico, “She would like to talk with you, but if you aren’t up for—“

Nico shot out of his spot on the couch abandoning his blanket cocoon, “Sorry guys, I’ll be right back.”

From his spot on the floor, Percy hit the pause button before looking to Will with a puzzled expression, “Wait, I thought…” 

Will’s eyes followed his friends retreating form as Nico took the phone from Persephone’s hands and stepped out into the hallway, only hearing him great his mother before the door clicked shut behind him, “Ciao Mamma-“

The room fell into a hushed silence of equal parts confusion and worry. 

Before this moment, everyone but Will assumed Nico avoided talking about his mother because she died, and nobody wanted to say anything that might put Nico on the defensive and push them away. 

They all waited in awkward silence for him to return. So many questions just formed for so many of his friends there tonight. 

But Will kept staring at the closed door with worry.

…

“Yes mamma, I’m sorry I haven’t called recently I—“

“Domanico, I expected better of you, giving your dear old mother the cold shoulder like that! I realize I live across the world, so I would have hoped you’d contact me more often because of that fact.”

“Yes mamma, again I’m sorry, I’ll do better—“

“You better.” Her tone was reprimanding, but ended on a surprisingly teasing note.

“In other news, I hope things are going well with your religious studies?” Nico’s heart dropped to his stomach at what should have been an innocent question from her, “I’m expecting to hear a date sometime soon for your Confirmation. I need to take time off from work in advance so I can make the trip to attend.”

There was a small pause as Nico raked his brain for something to say. He hadn’t attended CCD or church in general since he moved to America with his father a few years ago. The oppressive environment created in those classes had long since taken its toll on him, and he was eternally grateful his father didn’t make him go back. 

“Nico?”

How could he tell her that there wouldn’t be a Confirmation? 

“Little mouse?”

What should he—

“Yes mamma, sorry I got distracted. I’ll let you know as soon as I find out, promis.” He lied through his teeth. 

“Silly little mouse, thank you. Persephone said you have friends over?”

“Yeah we’re watching movies, tomorrow’s Will’s birthday so we all got together for a sleepover.” 

“Oh that’s so sweet. You’ve been talking about Will an awful lot, I’m glad to hear you have such close friends in America.” Nico’s heart dropped for the second time within a few short minutes. He wasn’t being too obvious about his crush, was he? 

“Ah yeah, he’s my best friend.” He laughed it off. He couldn’t tell her he was gay, and that he was in love with his best friend. He just couldn’t.

“Well my sweet little mouse, I’ll let you go have your fun. I’d love to talk with you again sooner rather than later.” Her tone was teasing, “Remember to let me know the date for your confirmation. I love you!”

“Love you too, mamma.”

He felt hollow as his thumb pressed the end call button and passed the phone back to Persephone. She gave him a concerned look as he ran his hands down his face and sighed.

“Nico—“

“Please don’t.” He cut her off before she could say what he knew she was going to say  _ ‘you have to tell your mother eventually.’ _

“I know I have to, just…” he looked back to his bedroom door, “Just not today, ok?”

“Of course. I’m here if you need help.” She rested her hand on Nico’s shoulder and angled her head so that she was looking him in the eyes.

A small tired smile tugged at the corners of Nico’s lips, “Thank you.”

“Of course.” She smiled, ruffling his hair as she made her way past him and back down the hallway in this labyrinth of a house. 

The vivid light of the sunset washed the walls and plants that hung around the windows in the hall with a warm glow. 

As Persephone passed the plants, it was almost as if they turned and followed her. Almost like she herself carried that life the plants seemed to thrive off alone, despite the generous amount of sunlight coming through the large open windows. As she passed them with her fingers brushing past their leaves, he could have sworn the plants reached back out to her.

In a way, she was more a maternal figure to Nico than his own mother. Which pained Nico to admit, because he really did love his mother, he would never stop loving her. But when Persephone made it so easy to confide in, and so easy to be himself and feel accepted, it made the crippling fear of his mothers possible rejection send him running to her with any of his real problems.

Even if he had trouble expressing it at times, he was grateful for her quiet support.

With one last sigh, Nico opened the door to his bedroom and returned to the party.

…

[When](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noQJNaI13TA) Nico rejoined his friends, it was apparent to the rest of them that something was up. But once more, they didn’t say a thing, for fear of being pushed away. And much like Persephone had done, they sat there with the gift of silent support as well. To which he was eternally grateful.

They continued to watch their movie, and throughout the rest of it, Will found it hard to focus on what played out on the screen. He knew something was wrong, but not quite knowing what to do about it, and he hated it.

Despite being the most in the know about Nico’s past and his troubles in their little group, there were still things he didn’t know. Still things Nico refrained from saying. With a small pang in his chest, he hoped Nico would talk with him soon about whatever was going on.

The movie drew to a close, with Percy and Jason equal parts disturbed and unnerved. 

The others seemed to enjoy it despite the horror of watching characters get the literal life sucked out of them. They played Super Smash Bro’s Brawl for a while, before finally calling it a night when the clock reached past 1am.

And when everyone was seemingly asleep on their air mattresses spread out all across the floor in Nico’s room, Nico quietly left his bed and tiptoed around them to take a seat on the bench built into the large window by his closet door.

There were a lot of things on Nico’s mind, the lingering nerves over having his friends in his home, his aching heart over his crush on his best friend, and the existential dread of confronting his mother over not attending church since the third grade. 

And for some reason, disappointing his mother seemed like the hardest thing for him right now. 

Hell, Nico would rather confess to Will at this very moment rather than talk to his mother. Which still made him feel awful because he loved his mother, he shouldn’t have to feel this way about talking with her.

But he  _ would _ have to talk with her.

Very soon he would have to.

His attention was broken from spacing out watching cars move through traffic and people mozy about down below well into the night when Will climbed up the window sill next to him, leaning up against the wall to the right so that he was facing Nico. 

“You ok?” Will spoke in a hushed whisper, mindful of the others sleeping on the other side of the room.

Without turning his head, Nico looked at Will’s reflection in the glass. For about a minute Nico stayed silent, but after a bit he felt his walls start to come down.

“No.” Nico said so quietly Will almost missed it. His voice held an almost fragile waver to it.

Will sat there carefully watching his friend, knowing full well Nico would continue to talk when he was ready. The pale blue moonlight filtering in through the window made Nico’s summer tanned skin seem so light, with noticeable bags under his eyes that nobody at the age of 14 had any right having. His eyes, which were a dark brown normally, looked almost black in this lighting. As was the same with his hair. 

“How am I gonna tell her I haven't been to church since I moved to America?” His voice was nothing but a somber whisper as he spoke, with a slight waver mid sentence, “She was calling to find out when my Confirmation date would be, and I--” he paused and leaned forward to rest his forehead against the cool glass of his window, “I wish, just once, I could talk with her and not have my religious studies that are nonexistent get brought up.

“I feel terrible every time I have to lie to her about it. I can’t even be myself around her anymore, and I feel like she doesn't know anything about me in the slightest anymore. Like--” Nico stopped himself before the rest of the sentence came out ‘ _ like the fact that I’m gay.’ _

“Like?” Will questioned.

But…

Will was his best friend. 

He might not be able to talk to his mother about these things, but why should it be the same way with Will? Was his fear of rejection so deep rooted that he really couldn’t talk with him about it?

Was he seriously going to let a crush get in the way of his trust and friendship with Will? 

Maybe it was the fact it was 3am, maybe it was the fact that he needed to be completely honest about where his anxiety about his mother truly comes from, but Nico drew together some semblance of courage to tell Will some truth about it.

He averted his eyes from Wills reflection and settled on some point in the front lawn, a pomegranate tree Persephone planted ages ago, before he said it, “Like the fact that I’m gay…”

The small space of silence that fell between them had Nico’s heart plummeting with regret over saying anything. But the hardest part was done, the words were out there, and there was no taking them back.

“Is that ok?” The fragile tone in Nico’s voice drew Will out of the stupor he fell into at the confession. Hearing Nico tell him he was gay almost instantly made Will’s brain shortcircut. 

“Nico,” he began, not noticing the way his hands were shaking until he gripped the Nico’s shoulder to get his attention, “Of course that’s ok, I would be the biggest hypocrite in the world if I said otherwise.” 

Nico’s look of bewilderment at that statement made a stupid smile stretch across Will’s face. There was an unasked question in Nico’s eyes, “Because I am too.” Will finished before letting go of Nico’s shoulder and drawing his knees to his chest in his corner of the window sill.

“Gay, I mean.” Will tacked on after a moment when Nico continued to stare at him, mouth slightly open, like this was the absolute last thing Nico expected his best friend to say. Despite the few hints Will had dropped here and there that he might be gay.

Like that totally inconspicuous completely rainbow T-shirt he wore when they went to the fair that summer. Or when Leo asked why Will turned down Mary from biology class and responded with  _ I’m just not interested in dating girls right now. _

It was a thoughtful silence, really. Will’s brain still buzzing with excitement, because Nico  _ was _ gay! And maybe, just maybe, Will really did have a chance?

Or was that getting ahead of himself? Gods he hoped this would work out.

“Wait..” Nico finally spoke up hesitantly, “You mean I’ve been terrified of telling you that I’m,” he paused instead of saying the word gay, “And you’ve been gay this whole time?”

“You were terrified of telling me?” There was a brief flash of hurt in Will’s eyes. Had he ever done something to make Nico think Will would reject or think any less of him?

Nico looked guilty and averted his gaze back out the window, “It’s not really you I’ve been afraid of it’s--” Nico took in a deep breath “It has everything to do with my mom?” Nico’s lips pressed into a flat line while he thought of how to word what he wanted to say and not sound as pathetic as this all made him feel, “My mom’s religious, and the whole call today really only cemented everything I’ve been hiding from her. It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you, but..

“I’ve spent so much time terrified of rejection from her that I guess it all internalized and made me scared of what everyone else might think of it too.” he paused, “Especially you…”

“Nico, I could never--” Will started before things started to click into place and realization dawned on him, “I think I understand.” He couldn’t deal with the fear of disgusting anyone close to him with what he felt was shameful. That was what Nico meant.

“I’m so scared of disappointing everyone, and I’m scared of this ruining how people see me. The only other people who know are Persephone, Annabeth and Percy, and I--”

“Wait wait wait,” Will interrupted waving his hands in front of his face, “You mean to tell me you told Annabeth and Percy before you told me?”

“It wasn’t on purpose, it was an unfortunate set of circumstances I promise.” Nico’s pale skin flushed.

“Ahuh?”

“I had a crush on Percy, and they found out, and things were kind of strained for a bit,” Nico began to explain then caught sight of the brief flash of dejection on Will’s face, “It’s not like that anymore though, he’s not really my type anyways so…”

Almost as soon as Will felt disappointment, hope took it’s palace, “And your type is?” Will didn’t know where that question came from, and looked almost as surprised that it came from his mouth as Nico did. 

But hey, it was 3am so why not.

Nico’s heart skipped a beat, “Ahh,” his eyes immediately looked back out his window as his blush got worse, “I like freckles.” He said lamley.

Will snorted, “Ah freckles, what a type to have. Not very high standards I see.” Will joked.

“It’s not just that. I’ll have you know I have very high standards in men, thank you very much.” 

“Oh yeah? What else Mr. High Standards?”

Nico scoffed “Well I like curly blond hair.” Nico started with a small smile, starting to feel a bit more bold than simply stating freckles, and at this point Will probably caught on to what he was implying, “And maybe blue eyes.” Nico paused to look over to Will, the latter of which was now sporting a stupid smile, “And what about you?”

“Well I guess you could say I like shorter guys,” Nico looked almost offended, because if this was actually going where he thought it was, how dare Will call him short, “with dark straight hair, and brown eyes.”

_ Was this really happening?  _ Both boys thought, hearts going a thousand miles a minute as this continued.

“And maybe I like someone with a fiery personality, who for the most part maintains an American accent well enough unless he’s very angry.” Will felt Nico’s fingers brush his hand, which was resting between them, “And maybe he can be a little shit from time to time and make his friends pick through scary movies when they come over.”

“And maybe he has the dumbest thousand watt smile on earth,” Nico continued when Will took his hand in his own, “and maybe he likes to stay up way too late in the night to talk with me.” Nico started trembling, “Is--is that ok?” he squeezed Will’s hand, “Would this be ok?” He turned to look at his best friend who was now staring at him wide eyed.

Will let go of his hand and Nico’s heart sank, but when he felt a hand cup his face it started racing again. A thumb brushed a tear away from his face. 

When did he start crying?

“Of course it is.” The way Will was looking at him, and the way his heart was beating so fast, Nico doesn't know exactly why but he starts to cry even harder. Silently, but gods it was like a dam broke and everything he kept bottled up for so long had finally come pouring out, “Are you ok?” Will continued, looking concerned and bewildered.

Nico simply nodded and gasped out a yes before furiously wiping at his eyes, “It’s ok, I’m ok, it’s just--” he tried like hell to get his breathing under control, “I don’t know, I thought you were straight this whole time, and gods this was not how I thought tonight would end and I didn’t think my mommy issues would be what brought this up and--” Nico took a deep breath and tried to calm down his jumbled nerves. 

“Just so we’re clear on this. You like me, right?” Will spoke carefully as he watched as his friend began to calm down, “Because I like you. A lot.”

Nico pulled Will into a hug and nodded, “Yeah, I do too.” Will’s arms wrapped around Nico as well, “That’s ok, right?”

Will let out a breathy laugh, “Yes it’s ok, it’s more than ok.”

Nico couldn't stop smiling, or crying for that matter, and it was then that Nico realized they were happy tears. This was ok, things were ok, things were more than ok.

“So what are we then?” Will asked.

Nico snorted, “I can’t believe you just said that  _ ‘What are we?’ _ .” A stupid, happy smile spreading across his face, “That’s such a cheesy thing to say, we sound like some cheese romcom now. Congratulations.” It was all Nico could do to try and reign in his giddy laughter, still mindful of the others asleep on the other side of the room.

Will rolled his eyes but was holding back laughter all the same, “But really though--”

“Go be gay somewere else.” Leo grumbled from across the room, shifting on his air mattress to try and go back to sleep.

All the color drained from Nico’s face as the two looked over Nico’s shoulder in horror that Leo had woken up, and god when had he woken up and how much of this did he hear?

From his left, Annabeth rolled over to slug Leo in the face with Percy’s pillow that she ripped out right from under her sleeping boyfriend’s head, knocking Percy off the air mattress in the process, “Can you ever shut your fucking mouth?”

Percy having just been abruptly, and rudely he might add, woken up from his sleep, looked over to his girlfriend with a look of complete and utter betrayal, “Why.” He said in a tone that wasn’t quite a question and more of a tired statement; like he’d always known this would happen.

“Leo deserved it.” Annebeth passed him his pillow back, “Here have your pillow.”

“But why did it have to be my pillow?”

“Because it was the first one I grabbed.”

Percy gave a long, suffering sigh as he crawled back onto the air mattress and plopped back down face first into his pillow. 

To Annabeth’s left, Leo was cackling, which then woke up Jason and Piper who were looking at Annabeth with confusion, “Leo is being a shit head, go back to sleep.” 

Jason did so without any hesitation, but Piper looked from Annabeth, to Leo, then to Nico and Will sitting in the window sill. She gave a small smile before following suit.

From his place on the window sill, Nico looked like he wanted the wall to open up around him and swallow him whole. Will looked amused, if not horrified that they’d woken up any of them with their heart to heart conversation.

After a moment of his friends settling back in and going to sleep, Will looked back over to Nico to see how he was doing. And all things considered, he seemed calmer than one would think. Still mortified, but in a way that said  _ ‘They cought me doing something sappy’ _ and not  _ ‘Now they know I’m gay’ _ and if that wasn’t a major improvment to Nico’s mental state within the past 30 minutes, Will didn’t know what was.

“So…” Nico started.

“[Boyfriends?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCME1I5bRDE)” Will asked.

Nico’s blush came back full force but he nodded, “Boyfriends.” a small smile crept across Nico’s face when Will squeezed his hand.

Had this happened any different way, Nico might have pushed Will away, might have slipped his hand out of Will’s. Instead, Nico squeezed back.

“Best birthday present ever.” he smiled.

Even though they ended up quietly talking with each other till the sun came up, they had zero regrets. Talking about everything and anything they could. Who needed to talk about heavy things like disappointing your family when you could talk to your  _ boyfriend _ about your plan to one day adopt as many cats as you legally could.

_ And yes Creatcher, Froglet and Old Man Tony are already great cats, but you could never have  _ **_too_ ** _ many cats  _ **_Will_ ** _!!! _

And yes, Nico would have to have a difficult conversation with his mother very soon. But for right now, he would let himself be happy in the present and not worry about everything else in the future, everything that scared him.

As the sun rose past the horizon line, the two boys were fast asleep curled up in the window sill. It was a very sweet little scene, which at roughly 10:30am was rudely disturbed when Leo launched a pillow from across the room at them.

“Happy birthday Will!” Percy called from where he was still lying curled up on the air mattress next to Annabeth, who was still asleep but started grumbling.

“Happy birthday Will.” Jason said softly from the other side of Percy, more mindful of the still sleeping Annabeth.

The bathroom door opened revealing Piper, who knelt back down on her side of the mattress, jostling Leo in the process, “Leo I told you not to do that.” She glared at him before shooting the two now very disgruntled and awake teen boys an apologetic smile, “Happy birthday Will.”

“Oh yeah, happy birthday dude.” Leo finally tacked on.

Nico, from his place next to his boyfriend, was now glaring daggers at his so called friend and currently waying out his options for what to do with the body when he was done with him. 

And what was potentially even funnier was the pout Will was giving Leo for the rude awakening, like a sad puppy still curled up in the window sill at the awkward angle he fell into when they went to sleep.

“I hate you.” Nico grumbled.

“That’s fair.” Leo replied with a smug smile in place. 

“Will, what’s it like being 15? You’re fucking ancient now!” Percy finally sat up on the mattress, jostling Annabeth awake.

“Percy you’re 16.” Annabeth mumbled as she tried to curl up further in the blankets.

It took Will a minute to respond, still processing the rude awakening he just experienced, “Tired.” He grumbled, finally sitting up and rubbing his neck, which was sore from the awkward position he fell asleep in.

“Yeah guys, when did you even go to sleep?” Leo asked.

Nico blushed while Will yawned, “Not sure.” Will leaned his head on Nico’s shoulder with his eyes closed, “Sun was coming up though.”

“Ain’t that cute.”

“Leo for the love of gods shut your mouth before I shove my foot down your throat. It’s too early for this.” Annabeth’s threat was more a complaint than anything.

“Anyways!” Jason clapped his hands, “Presents first? Or are we doing breakfast?”

They all turned to Will awaiting a response, “Ahh,” he looked to Nico, “whichever? I’m hungry, but maybe presents first cause it’s all right here?”

“Sounds good!” Piper chimed in, and they all went to get their presents while Will moved from the window sill to the floor, nabbing a blanket to wrap over his shoulders.

“Mine first!” Percy shoved the blue gift bag into his hands and sat down in front of him, the others soon gathering around the birthday boy. 

Just from the feel of it, Will had a pretty bold idea what it could be. The large bag really was generous given the smaller contents, but when Will pulled out a copy of Kid Icarus: Uprising for his 3ds his face lit up.

“Dude! I’m so excited to play this!” Percy smiled, “Thank you-“

“Mine next!” Will was cut off by Leo eagerly pushing his present forward, which was a large sized box carefully wrapped in snoopy Christmas wrapping paper.

Will tour off the paper to reveal a regular, blank postal box duck taped shut, “This isn’t anything I should be concerned about, right?” He looked up wearily to a smiling Leo.

“Of course not! Would I ever do something like that?” 

The group leveled him with a stare that had him snort laughing, “Oh come on! Open it I promise it’s nothing bad.” He slapped his knee.

As Will struggled to peel back an absurd amount of duck tape, Nico stood up and walked to his desk, pulling a pocket knife from a drawer and tossing it to Will, “Make it easier on yourself."

“Thanks.” Will smiled as he unfolded the knife to cut open the box. 

Inside was a perfectly normal box of honey nut Cheerios. Will gave Leo a look of complete bemusement, “I guess we have breakfast?” He pulled out the box to show the group.

“Leo you didn’t-“ Piper began before getting cut off by Leo cackling.

“Open the box, Will I promise it gets good.”

Will looked at the closed box of cereal and gave it a shake, “Leo it sounds like there’s just cereal inside  _ should I be concerned _ ?” 

“No no no just open it, I promise it’s good!”

Will opened the box of cereal, which the bag was opened already with a little clip holding it shut. Will looked at Leo one more time before carefully pulling the bag from the box.

“Leo did you seriously give Will an opened box of Cheerios?” Jason peered over his friends shoulder, trying his best to look reprimanding but honestly as shitty as that would be it was honestly absolutely hilarious.

Under the bag was another, smaller box carefully wrapped in the same snoopy wrapping paper. He pulled it out from the box and peeled back the paper to reveal

_ A box of Irish breakfast tea. _

Leo exploded with laughter, Will starting to laugh as well at the absurdity of it, “And a drink to go with it.” He looked to Leo, “Gee thanks.”

“Ok now open it!” Leo chimed again, brimming with excitement.

Like the box of Cheerios, the box of tea was also pre opened, lid held shut with a bit of scotch tape. Will pried it open, and looking in the box, all he could think of was  _ wow blue! _

He took out what looked like a clear blue, plastic DS shell.

“It’s a new casing for your 3DS!” Leo pulled out a small plastic tool kit from his bag to show Will, “I can take your system apart and put it in the new shell so it looks all old school retro gameboy.” 

“Dude that’d be sick!” Will beamed.

“Wait Leo, could you do that to mine too?” Percy asked while looking at the gift, “that’s so cool!”

“When it’s your Birthday maybe.” Leo singsonged as he plucked the shell from Will's hands and made a motion for Will to give him his 3DS. After a moment of rifling through his bag, Will pulled out his system to pass over to Leo.

“Ok mine next,” Annabeth passed Will her gift, “It’s not as cool as a new 3DS shell, but I think you’ll still like it.”

Will smiled, “Of course I would.” 

Next to him, Nico unclipped the bag of Cheerios and shoved a handful into his mouth. When everyone turned to him he responded, “What? I’m hungry.”

Will tore through the star speckled wrapping paper and pulled out an R2D2 funko pop and smiled, “Thank you!” He set it down next to his new game.

“I saw it in Target and immediately knew you needed it.”

“Oh absolutely.” Will nodded.

As Will opened up Piper and Jason’s gifts, he was hyper aware of the contact he had with Nico as they all were sitting. 

Nico was still pretty grumpy from the rude awakening, but his irritation was satiated as he munched on handfuls of Cheerios, leaning up against Will’s side and peering over his shoulder to see what he got.

Next to him was a yellow gift bag with blue tissue paper, his birthday gift to Will. And Will was sure it was something nice, but right now nothing could outweigh the magnitude of what they’d talked about last night—or well, earlier this morning if you were to get technical about it.

The concept of dating someone, actually having a boyfriend, was still so foreign to either of them. But Will was thrumming with excitement.

They were actually dating now? Nico was  _ actually _ Will’s boyfriend? That really happened?

They could kiss—

Will felt his face heat up, but looked at Nico from the corner of his eye. What would Nico do if he—

“Nico’s turn!”

Nico shifted away from Will’s side to grab his present and plop it in Will’s lap.

“It’s no box of Cheerios, but it should still be pretty good.” Nico said, and from over at Nico’s desk, he heard Leo start to kackle before continuing to dissect the 3DS. 

“A box of Rice Krispies then?” Will joked. 

Nico thumped him off the back of the head, “Better than Rice Krispies dumb-dumb.”

Will pulled a white T-shirt out of the bag and barked out a laugh, “Nico you didn’t!” 

It was already a running gag in their group that Will was going to be a doctor, based solely on his horrific penmanship. At home, Will's brother Mike framed one of Will’s old school papers that was just drowning in red ink from teachers notes trying to dissect what he was trying to write.

And to give Will some credit, he has pretty bad dyslexia and would mix up his d’s and b’s, and 9’s and p’s. But also his writing really was just that bad outside of that fact. 

_ ‘A Wise Doctor Once Said’  _ followed by illegible scribbling, was printed in black ink on the front of the shirt, “A wise doctor once said—“ Percy read aloud before snickering, “Dude you have to wear that today.”

“Without question.” Nico answered for Will, giving the blond an innocent smile.

“You guys just live to shame me, don’t you?” Will questioned as he folded the shirt, bumping his shoulder into Nico’s, who was too tired to be self conscious of the fact he was staring at Will like a love sick kitten.

“Hey at least I didn’t get you that children’s book that has you trace over the little dotted letters, that was a very real possibility—“ Nico broke off laughing at the deadpanned stair Will leveled him with.

“You really are getting a box of Rice Krispies for your birthday Di Angelo, remember this and don’t be surprised when it happens.”

“Good, I won’t share them.”

“Speaking of,” Piper interrupted, “Either you start sharing those Cheerios, or we actually go get breakfast, because I’m hungry.”

Nico rolled the bag up and clipped it before shoving it back in the box, “Let’s get real food, Seph said she’s gonna make pancakes, and we got toppings.”

“Fantastic!”

* * *

So I was gonna post pictures in this work but the process of actually adding them in was too many steps lol so you can find pictures I post [here](https://coolbeesbro.tumblr.com) on my Tumblr account! Feel free to send me messages as well!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope people notice that I left this open ended, because theres gonna be another part I'm going to make soon!!! This will officially be a part of a series!
> 
> This started off as a little feel good one off. But as I started writing I grew more attached to the characters and it actually developed its own little universe in my head lol

**Author's Note:**

> So originally this was intended to be a one off, but my brain had other plans I guess, so stay tuned for chapter 2!
> 
> 'The day Nico discovered he was in love with his best friend, the sun was shining at full force like an unforgiving god showering your local goth youth with some much needed vitamin D.'


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